After a 14-year tenure as principal of Rochester Memorial School, Jay Ryan informed the school committee at its January 5 meeting his intention to retire in October.

“These have been the happiest 14 years of my life in education. I had very mixed emotions when I made the decision,” Mr. Ryan said, commenting that he is ready to immerse himself into his other passion: the arts. “I am thankful for the support I’ve had over the years.”

Superintendent Doug White thanked Mr. Ryan for his service, and his thoughtfulness of informing the committee in advance so it has time to assemble a search committee and locate a replacement. He said the months of February and March are the ideal times to hire principals. “We need to think about what our process is going to be,” he said.

To jumpstart the process, the committee decided it would hold a public meeting sometime next week to determine next steps, in particular job advertising strategies. “This is an important hire. It is one that need to be thought out well,” the superintendent said, saying that although it is his job to hire principals, he’ll rely heavily on input from the committee and the Rochester community.

Mr. Ryan’s announcement also will help the school plan for next year’s budget, the superintendent said.

The budget subcommittee currently is reviewing next year’s challenges – which include absorbing higher utility costs related to the building addition and spikes in special education expenditures.

In a preliminary discussion, budget subcommittee member Tina Rood said that an increase of $417,000 in the budget next year is necessary to maintain services. “But even with this increase, we would not be replacing a teacher retiring this year. And in the last two years, we have not replaced two other retiring teachers and the Assistant Principal,” she said.

Ms. Rood said challenges loom because the town has asked for a level funded budget, meaning one with no increases at all. “It will be a struggle,” she said.

The budget also includes tuition costs for high schoolers in the town who opt to attend Bristol Aggie. She said any new tuition reduces the regular day budget. “It does have an impact on the budget,” she said.

Moreover, the federal ARRA dollars will not be available this year, as it was in the past two years.

“It’s going to be a team effort to get the budget in a place that supports our students,” she said.

Helping to reduce utility costs at RMS will be district facilities manager Steve Murphy, the superintendent said.

Mr. White said that with the RMS school and expansion project complete – Mr. Murphy will now oversee facilities at that school. When district facilities manager Steve Shiraka passed away in 2010, the town of Rochester’s head of facilities Mike Meunier took over the project and saw it through its completion. The town had requested that the school now oversee the building so Mr. Meunier can focus on town projects.

“That building is absolutely fantastic,” Mr. Murphy said in his remarks to the committee. He outlined several of his energy saving endeavors– including scheduling energy use at the school so it is only used as needed. He said he would carefully monitor oil, gas electricity, and water through a direct digital control system – which he can control from a remote location.

In other business:

• Although RMS food services brought in a $2,744 profit for December, Food Service Director Caitlyn Meagher said that the program still needs to increase participation to come in with a positive balance at the end of the year.

• The committee approved a two-year renewal contract with Braga Transportation, which offered to maintain its fiscal year 2011 rates through fiscal year 2014. District Business Administrator said the deal will save the district $92,000.

• The Early Childhood Fair is scheduled for January 21 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Sippican School. More information available at 508-748-1863.

By Laura Fedak Pedulli